FTP is a reliable, connection-oriented service that uses TCP to transfer files between systems that support FTP. The main purpose of FTP is to transfer files from one computer to another by copying and moving files from servers to clients, and from clients to servers. When files are copied from a server, FTP first establishes a control connection between the client and the server. Then a second connection is established, which is a link between the computers through which the data is transferred. Data transfer can occur in ASCII mode or in binary mode. These modes determine the encoding used for data file, which in the OSI model is a presentation layer task. After the file transfer has ended, the data connection terminates automatically. When the entire session of copying and moving files is complete, the command link is closed when the user logs off and ends the session.

TFTP is a connectionless service that uses User Datagram Protocol (UDP). TFTP is used on the router to transfer configuration files and Cisco IOS images and to transfer files between systems that support TFTP. TFTP is designed to be small and easy to implement. Therefore, it lacks most of the features of FTP. TFTP can read, write, or mail files to or from a remote server but it cannot list directories and currently has no provisions for user authentication. It is useful in some LANs because it operates faster than FTP and in a stable environment it works reliably.

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